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Mission burrito *drool*
Posted: 4:07 pm, October 21st, 2009 in Eating Outside Midtown
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29 Comments
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stevenp, I agree. I've often wondered why some enterprising young burrito maker in SF doesn't come East and open a real mission-style burrito shop in NYC. EVERYONE knows NYC burritos for some reason always have to suck, and EVERYONE wants mission style burritos. As long as I've been reading food blogs and sites, this one ALWAYS comes up.
You know it's sad when Boston has better burritos than NYC (shout out to Boca Grande, the original on First St in Cambridge, and down the block from my old place in Coolidge Corner.)
This would also be a great food format, I imagine, for a cart or truck.
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what exactly is in a mission style burrito?
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Tasty goodness in a blend of delicious flavors with lots of meat and savory stuff (as opposed to a crap-pile of poorly-cooked cilantro-laced rice with a smidgen of protein buried along one side). Had the carne asada yesterday and it was inspiring. As huge as it was, I didn't stop inhaling it until it was gone. Oh yeah--these burritos have a couple of huge slices of avocado buried inside too, as well as very tasty cooked pinto beans, just a hint of onion and cilantro (I don't generally like cilantro), etc. But it was totally dominated by the actual tender steak slices, as it should be. I think my stomach can handle one more of these monsters before I head back east. I'm wondering if I can get a 'souvenir' burrito thru security for the flight home?
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Hmmm maybe I'll stop by this place when I'm in SF in 2 weeks. Thanks!
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stevenp, you can surely try. Use the Nigel Tufnel approach.
(spinal tap instantly came into my mind when you suggested taking a "souvenir burrito through airport security").
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If you are still out there StevenP make sure you do get an Al Pastor and a Chile Verde burrito. It is life changing! Glad you can deal with a little cilantro :-)
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*Coriander.
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To my co-workers' lament, I complain at any opportunity about New York's shortage of decent Mexican food. I think it's the deficiency of fresh produce and seasonings that makes it impossible to re-create the mission style burrito, not lack of will of us Bay Area ex-pats.
Stevenp, don't waste your time at Cancun; that place is mainly frequented my dotcom transplants. Go get the real deal at Pancho Villa where they have a surf and turf deluxe burrito with the best salsa fresca on the planet or try Casa Sanchez where, in true midtownlunch-style, if you get a tattoo of their logo you can get free burritos for life.
The closest I've found in NY to Frisco cuisine is at Taqueria de los Muertos in Brooklyn (Prospect Heights). For those who know burritos, it's comparable to Cactus Taqueria; decent in a pinch at home, but great for NYC.
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I Google'd and didn't find these places, can someone help me with that? Thanks
*the SF places
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Best Frisco burritos:
http://www.casasanchez.com/
http://panchovillasf.com/
http://www.gordotaqueria.com/ -
Adam: That was Derek Smalls, not Nigel! I did get a burrito thru airport security. (Mama--it was an al pastor, also incredibly delish!) I was being stopped, but then one of the guards said they knew me and it was all real, so I got thru with no hassle. ;)
Matty--Didn't get to those other stops, but will heck them out next time. (The casasanchez link is wrong tho.) I still wouldn't call Taq. Cancun a "waste of time"--still better than any burrito I've had in NYC, ever.
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In a strangely synchronistic turn of events, I just got an e-mail about the impending opening of a new burrito place just below Union Square, started up by 2 San Fran transplants who lament the lack of good burritos in NYC. The place is Dos Toros taqueria. Not sure when it'll be open, but it's on 4th Ave bet. 13th and 14t Sts., right in my 'hood. I'll report back when I sample their wares. Today, it looks like I'll finally try the Goats cart at Madison & 28th....
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stevenp: keep us posted. it's about time. i hope these guys don't absorb the NY "All our burritos must suck" vibe once they arrive.
it's funny that it's exactly the same scenario I've played out in my head for a few years now: "Why don't some enterprising young burrito makers come here to NYC and open a shop." i hope they do it right and they do well.
If it succeeds I expect a lesser quality 'Dos Kennedyos Tacos' to open shortly after.
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I'm cautiously optimistic. Here's the DTT hype from Thrillist:
Believing the superiority of WC burritos owes to the attention given each component component, everything but the cheese, crema, and tortillas're made in-house, having undergone hundreds of batch testings to ensure quality; rice, pinto/black beans, cheese, salsa, and sour cream're carefully layered for structural integrity, and wrapped in their favorite hand-stretched, super-thin-yet-resilient flour tortilla, painstakingly sourced from ATL, then steamed, resulting in a delightfully chewy texture, and even more delightful steaming burrito jokes. As for meat fillings, options are three: char grilled chicken or carne asada touched with a special dry rub of paprika, black/white pepper, kosher salt, and a few secrets, and crispy, tender carnitas seared on both ends of a roast that lasts four hours, which actually seems short once you've seen the roast of Chevy Chase.
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Now I'm worried. If they are experienced burrito makers from the west coast, why did they need 'hundreds of hours of batch testing?'
Just do the same thing they've been doing in SF for decades now!
Something tells me they've been testing stuff to put 'their own spin' on mission burritos. I hope not, because that's just a translation of 'another shitty nyc burrito.' Mission burritos are a problem that has been solved. No need to reinvent a damn thing about them.
I'm cautiously pessimistic about this. But that's just a slight variation of my normal state anyway.
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Maybe they had to get things right using locally available ingredients? (Darn, trying to avoid the cautious pessimism here!)
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Hey Guys,
I'm one of the owners of Dos Toros. Just wanted to say that we're fully about being a legit bay area style taqueria. No brown rice, no whole wheat tortillas, no soyrizo/tofu fillings. Just the real deal.
MikeNYC - you're skepticism is completely understandable. The thing is, we didn't work at taquerias in the bay, we just ate burritos everyday. So all the cooking and testing was figuring out how to make everything the way we knew it ought to taste.
We're really happy with our product, and I promise we're mighty discerning. Come check it out and let us know what you think!
Thanks,
LeoHope to see you soon!
Thanks,
Leo -
Are you guys open yet? I'll be right over!!!!!
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Update: I just checked out their website and they also have very cheap beers-- $2.30 for a Tecate???? This will be a long lunch indeed. Good job Leo!
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Leo, I hope to try one this week. Good luck with your burrito shop.
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In the early 90's there was a spot on Broadway @ 72nd called The San Francisco Burrito Co. Being from S.F. I was excited, until I sampled their slabs. Does anyone remember this?
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Tried the Dos Toros. Smaller than the SF burrito's Ive had, (and smaller than a Chipotle, by way of reference) and the rice, while flavorful, seemed overcooked/mushy. First rate steak and Carnitas inside, though.
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I made it by DTT yesterday. Steak was extremely tasty. Had to repeat my order 3 times, even though there was no one else being served! (Black beans? No, I said pintos. Chicken? No, I said carne asada....) It was a very good burito, not quite the bomb-sized burrito from SF, but a good balance of flavors. The burritos need to be wrapped more TIGHTLY though--this is important. Some of the pintos were undercooked, but not a major problem. I was disappointed by the small spoon of guacamole that I paid an extra buck for.
Overall, a very tasty burrito with balanced flavors, far better than the Chipotle rice-ball-in-a-tortilla. The spicy salsa added a nice bite. Not sure if it's quite worth $9 for a not-quite-bomb-sized burrito. Could've used a bit more meat. Unlike a SF burrito, I had room after finishing to eat a second.
Oh yeah--and they don't have their liquor license yet, so no beer, alas.
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The steak was extremely flavorful and tasty, but like bltz, I found the rice to be overcooked and mushy :(
I guess I'll try it out once more in a month or so to see if there were any improvements made!
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honestly, new york would benefit by just importing anna's taqueria from boston if they can't get a california style burrito. anna's manages to do an amazing burrito in boston for not a ridiculous amount of money. why does that not work in new york?
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Anna's is good, but in Boston I was more of a Boca Grande guy, esp. the pre-divorce Boca, when they were just starting up. The original one in East Cambridge was amazing and they did seem to slip a bit over the years at each location. Boca, by the way, uses, or used, I don't know now, the 'steam with cheese' method. It's not that unusual.
In any event, it's sad that for years Boston had not one but two different burrito shops better than anything in NYC. I hope Dos Toros marks the end of that. I'm definitely trying them out this weekend.
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I've checked out Anna's in Boston several times and DT is in the same vein. Bigger, tighter burritos would help a lot. I didn't find my rice to be mushy but, as noted above, a few pinto beans were undercooked.
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I stopped by DT last night. It may have been that I was ill from watching the giants, but it was pretty meh-tastic.
Basically the same as chipotle but plain rice. Goats, you may like this place, no cilantro in the rice.
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I hit up Dos Toros today for lunch. Had a carnitas taco and chips and guacamole. Taco was fine, I liked the spicy hot sauce, but the guacamole was terrible. I don't claim to be a guacamole expert, but I'm pretty sure it's supposed to actually have a taste and *not* be the texture of paste.
Just had my very first real Mission burrito ever (at Taqueria Can-cun here in SF) and burritos will never be the same. I actually had the super breakfast burrito--it was incredibly massive and delicious, and was only $6. I'll be back there soon for an al pastor or beef tongue burrito, although I may not eat again until tomorrow. (I think I'll pass on the beef brains option!). Seriously, these burritos are massive and tasty. Chipotle should be ashamed for serving those fat cilantro-laced rice balls wrapped in a tortilla (except that they are laughing at their suckers^h^h^h^customers all the way to the bank). Why can't someplace in NYC figure out how to make and sell these awesome burrito creations?